Talk:Hatfield–McCoy feud

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 January 2019 and 3 May 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Adduhsun.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:08, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Eight or nine?

Currently the text says "In 1888, Wall Hatfield and eight others" but then "all were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, while the eighth". How many people, eight or nine?  Randall Bart   Talk  01:55, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

I too was put off by this error, I have corrected the article with a good faith edit. I believe the previous writer had confused two separate trials, eight men were arrested for the murder of Alfair McCoy and Wall Hatfield was NOT one of them, this is the source of the inconsistency as Wall was guilty for the prior murder of three McCoy boys. Beaten Corpse (talk) 00:44, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

More objectivity/neutrality needed on the relevant factors in - and timeline of - The Feud?

Hi fellow Wikipedians, I'm a newby at WP and I have no insight whatsoever into the relevant facts, research or publications related to this article. My only interest in the article arose through watching the mini-series "Hatfield & McCoys". I was curious about what the 'real facts' were versus those depicted in the mini-series. My curiosity led me to this article and also to an article written by Dr. Altina L. Waller in 2012. Dr. Waller is the author of one of the books mentioned under 'Further Reading'. IMHO some of her comments (but not her specific opinions or conclusions about the Feud) apply equally to this article: namely that there are different bodies of research into the history of this feud, different opinions on the factors that were relevant to the Feud and different opinions on the extent to which these factors were relevant. Some facts are verifiable through historical records, the relevance of these and other relevant facts/factors are inferred from the historical circumstances. Both the selection/relevance of 'verifiable facts' and 'inferred relevant factors' is IMHO subjective, based on the research and the conclusions drawn from this. For example, different authors have different opinions on the extent to which events during and shortly after the the Civil War contributed to the feud. The section of this article on 'The Feud' assumes that the events during and shortly after the Civil War were relevant. Although other reseachers/authors such as Dr. Waller don't agree with this. In her article (and presumably her book), Dr Waller also mentions that the relationships between the extended families of Hatfields and McCoys was much more nuanced than this article (by omission) implies. Her assertion that the factors sustaining 'the Feud' included those of economic circumstances and inequalities of wealth, influence and economic prospects deserve IMHO at least consideration in the article. Bottom line: I would prefer the lead article and 'The Feud' sections to be more objective/neutral. Less in the style of "this is what happened, these are the relevant facts" and more in the style of "the key events in this feud (according to most resarchers - with references)) are as follows..... There is some difference of opinion between historical researchers as to the exact timeline of the feud and as to the factors that contributed to, sustained and ended the feud. The main theories are as follows ..."

Mikemorrell49 (talk) 17:27, 24 December 2017 (UTC)

Mark Twain reference

Should the Grangerford / Shepherdson fued in Huck Finn (chapters 17-19) by Twain be listed in literary references? It seems clear that this is a fictionalized version of the Hatfield / McCoy feud. 165.225.48.113 (talk) 01:29, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Incosistent timeline for Bud McCoy

In the first section about the feud there is this line "The feud continued in 1882 when Ellison Hatfield, brother of Anse, was killed by three of Roseanna's younger brothers: Tolbert, Phamer (Pharmer), and Bud."

Which is followed by "The brothers were taken by force to West Virginia. When Ellison died from his injuries, the McCoy brothers were killed by the Hatfields' vigilante justice in turn:.."

So, the 3 brothers (Bud, Tolbert and Phamer McCoy) killed Ellison Hatfield and in turn they were killed as a form of justice.

However, in the Battle of the Grapevine Creek section, there is this line:

"Two McCoys were members of Philipps' posse, Bud and one of Randolph's sons, James "Jim" McCoy."

What? How was Bud killed by the Hatfields as an act of revenge but later was part of the revenge group for such revenge? Needs some timeline checks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Beaten Corpse (talk • contribs) 22:23, September 17, 2020 (UTC)

Why is ASA McCoy's death consider the first action of the feud.

Hi All, Why are we considering Asa's death to be the first violence seen in the feud? As we know there was any love lost on the Tug's McCoys with his death as most of his family were in the confederates and no form of justice (either judicial or extra-judicial) was sought. If I remember correctly in Waller's book FEUD she mentions that the death should not be considered an actual part of the first phase of the feud and was only used by news reports to sensationalize their stories nd build the mythos around the "savage bloodbath" and to show the need to modernize the mountain cultures in Appalachia during that period. 50.232.19.242 (talk) 02:23, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Lead section

I've noticed the lead section here doesn't do a good job of summarizing the feud. Are there any Hatfield-McCoy experts up for editing it? Squishybish (talk) 02:48, 7 December 2021 (UTC)Squishybish

Should "are show nto dislike bug music" be clarified?

Should "are show nto dislike bug music" be clarified? I don't know what to suggest, I'm afraid. R. Henrik Nilsson (talk) 10:23, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

Missing word

In the section "Literature," we are told, "In Kurt Vonnegut's 1976 novel Slapstick, a frontiersman dressed like "Davy Crockett" kills a man charged with conveying a message to the former of the United States..." The former WHAT? President, perhaps? J S Ayer (talk) 19:02, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Yes, I was just about to point out exactly the same thing. Annoyingly, this incident is not mentioned in the Slapstick article. Harfarhs (talk) 14:29, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Lead

Needs to explain how the feud came to an end. Viriditas (talk) 19:25, 25 October 2023 (UTC)